The  HIGH  COST 


OF  MONEY 

A  Problem  of 
Missionary 
Finance 

By 

George  B.  Huntington 

Associate  Secretary 


American  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Society 

Ford  Building,  Ashburton  Place 


Boston,  Mass. 


THE  HIGH  COST  OF 
MONEY 

A  Problem  of  Missionary  Pin  (nice 

BY 

George  B.  Huntington 
Associate  Secretary 

ONE  of  the  largest  items  of 
increased  cost  in  foreign 
mission  work  resulting  from 
the  war  is  the  unfavorable  exchange 
prevailing  in  several  of  the  mission 
fields.  The  money  appropriated  by 
the  Board  of  the  American  Baptist 
Foreign  Mission  Society  for  ex¬ 
penditure  on  the  foreign  field  must 
for  the  most  part  be  exchanged  into 
local  currency,  e.g.,  a  missionary's 
salary  is  appropriated  in  gold  dollars 
but  he  must  exchange  it  into  rupees 
in  India,  into  yen  in  Japan,  into 
Mexican  dollars  or  other  Chinese 
currency  in  China.  In  countries 
which  are  upon  a  gold  basis,  such  as 
Japan  or  Belgian-Congo,  this  trans¬ 
fer  from  American  gold  or  drafts  is 
a  comparatively  simple  operation, 
with  only  slight  variations  in  the 
cost  of  exchange.  In  countries 


that  are  upon  a  silver  basis,  however, 
such  as  China  and  India,  this  matter 
of  exchange  is  complicated  by  the 
rise  and  fall  in  the  value  of  silver, 
and  it  becomes  a  much  more  serious 
problem.  (j 

Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the 
price  of  silver  has  been  subject  to 
wide  and  frequent  fluctuations.  For 
several  years  previous  to  1914  the 
value  of  the  Mexican  dollar  (silver) 
in  Shanghai  was  relatively  stable  at 
about  47c  gold.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  war  silver  depreciated  so  that 
the  Mexican  dollar  sold  for  as  low  as 
40c  gold,  while  in  recent  months  the 
value  of  silver  has  risen  so  that  a 
Mexican  dollar  has  been  worth  as 
much  as  eighty  or  ninety  cents  gold 
and,  for  a  short  time,  even  as  much 
as  $1.00  gold.  During  the  early 
part  of  1917  it  was  estimated  that 
the  average  price  of  the  Mexican 
dollar  was  about  02Jc  gold,  while 
during  the  latter  months  of  the 
year  the  average  was  nearer  70c 
gold. 

The  significance  of  these  varia¬ 
tions  of  exchange  ran  best  be  appre- 


dated  by  illustration.  The  sum  of 
$100  appropriated  in  gold  toward  a 
missionary's  salary  or  work  in 
China,  with  the  Mexican  dollar  at 
the  normal  rate  of  47e  gold,  would 
yield  an  equivalent  of  $213  Mexican; 
at  62-?  c  it  would  yield  $160  Mexican; 
at  75c  it  would  yield  only  $133 
Mexican.  Since  there  has  been  no 
compensating  decrease  in  the  cost 
of  supplies  as  silver  has  advanced, 
but  rather  an  increase,  and  since 
the  salary  at  normal  exchange  is 
calculated  to  provide  only  the 
necessary  living  expenses  of  the 
missionary,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
appreciate  his  embarrassment  at 
finding  his  salary  suddenly  reduced 
by  one-fifth  or  even  two-fifths. 

Practically  all  of  the  larger  foreign 
missionary  societies  having  work  in 
China  have  recognized  the  necessity 
of  protecting  the  missionary  against 
this  decrease  in  the  purchasing 
power  of  his  salary,  and  in  common 
with  others  the  Board  of  Managers 
of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Society  has  adopted  the 
policy  of  guaranteeing  to  each  mis- 


sionary  in  China  the  equivalent  of 
two  Mexican  dollars  for  every  dollar 
of  his  salary  in  gold.  With  the 
Mexican  dollar  at  62^  c  every  $200 
Mexican  would  cost  the  Society 
$125  gold  or  an  increase  of  25% 
over  the  normal  basis  of  calculating 
exchange.  Appropriations  for  the 
missionary’s  work  are  made  in 
Mexican  dollars,  and  the  Board  is 
compelled  to  meet  a  similar  increase 
in  guaranteeing  these  appropriations 
undiminished. 

The  situation  in  India,  also  on  a 
silver  basis,  is  developing  along 
similar  lines  although  the  stabilizing 
influence  of  the  British  Government 
has  prevented  such  extreme  fluctua¬ 
tions  in  the  value  of  silver  as  have 
taken  place  in  China.  The  unit  of 
currency  in  India  is  the  silver  rupee 
which  is  normally  worth  approx¬ 
imately  33.3c.  Advice  r  e  c  e  i  v  e  d 
from  the  mission  treasurers  in  India 
towards  the  close  of  1917  indicated 
that  the  rupee  was  bringing  from 
34.5c  to  35.7c.  For  many  years 
past  the  missionaries'  salaries  in 
India  have  been  guaranteed  on  a 


fixed  basis  of  308  rupees  for  $100, 
or  at  the  rate  of  32.5c  to  the  rupee. 
While  the  Missionaries  are  fully 

ts 

protected  under  this  arrangement 
it  is  evident  that,  just  as  in  the  case 
of  China,  it  will  cost  the  Society 
considerably  more  to  pay  the  sala¬ 
ries  at  the  present  price  of  the 
rupee.  For  example,  with  the  ru¬ 
pee  worth  35.7c  every  308  rupees 
will  cost  the  Society  $109.96  or  an 
increase  of  practically  10°/,.  Since 
the  appropriations  for  mission  work 
are  made  to  the  Indian  missionaries 
in  rupees  the  loss  to  the  Society  is 
slightly  less,  representing  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  normal  rate  of 
33.3c  and  35.7c  to  the  rupee,  or 
approximately  7%. 

It  is  when  these  principles  are 
applied  to  the  appropriations  of  the 
Society  in  the  large  that  the  very 
substantial  increase  in  cost  appears. 
The  annual  appropriations  for  mis¬ 
sionaries’  salaries  and  work  in  China 
amount  approximately  to  $114,000 
and  in  British  India  to  a  little  more 
than  $290,000.  The  following  table 
wi  11  sh  ow  the  additional  expense  for 


the  current  year  1917-18  and  for  the 
next  year  1918-19,  according  to  the 
most  careful  estimate  possible  in 
December  when  the  figures  were 
prepared.  Latest  reports  indicate 
that  this  estimate  for  1918-19  is 
exceedingly  conservative  and  may 
have  to  be  materially  increased. 


Budget  of  1917-1918  — 

China  Missions 

Additional  for  salaries  $20,000 

Additional  for  Mission 

work]  14,000 

Total  estimated  increase 

for  1917-1918  $34,000 

Budget  of  1918-1919  — 

China  Missions 

Additional  for  salaries  $34,433 

Additional  for  Mission 

work  16,426 


[$50,859 

British  India  Missions 

Additional  for  salaries  $15,320 

Additional  for  Mission 

work  9,937 


$25,257 

Total  estimated  increase 

for  1918-1919  $76,116 


FOR  a  list  of  needs  or  infor¬ 
mation  regarding  any  form  of 
gift  to  the  Society,  write  to: 

J.  Y.  AITCHISON, 
Home  Secretary, 

Box  41,  Boston,  Mass. 


